Joey’s Home Movies For the Week of August 10th – Revisit the Absolute Gem That is ‘Project Hail Mary’ and Fall in Love with Rocky All Over Again

Welcome back to my Home Movies! This week, leading the charge is one of 2026’s crowning achievements in Project Hail Mary. Today also features a notable new release in Tuner, as well as some high profile 4K re-releases (many SteelBook style), including John Carney‘s Sing Street. What else is hitting shelves? Read on to find out…

Joey’s Top Pick

Project Hail Mary

Nothing this year in theaters has brought me more joy than Project Hail Mary. The friendship between Ryan Gosling‘s Ryland Grace and Rocky is among the great modern onscreen bromances. It’s truly the rare type of film to bring happiness to the masses, so that alone makes it a gem. That the movie is so wonderful as well? That’s just a bonus. I’ve gone on and on about this one for months now, and frankly, have no plans on stopping anytime soon. My four star rave review here on the site began like so:

Wow. Truly, it feels apt to begin a review of Project Hail Mary with just that. Wow. There is something about the works of Andy Weir that I’m now convinced make amazing films. The Martian is one of the best adaptations of a science fiction novel in some time, so expectations here were already high. Still, in taking a more ambitious Weir work and making this movie as phenomenal as it is does feel like an achievement. Those calling it E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial meets Interstellar are giving you an idea of what to expect, this has elements of Gravity and The Martian as well. Moreover, this is probably the most purely entertaining of the lot. This flick is incredible, absolutely engrossing, and the best film of the year so far.

Project Hail Mary is the highlight of 2026 cinema to date due to how immediately sucked in by the story you get. The sci-fi elements aren’t necessarily unlike anything you’ve seen before, though how it’s depicted is very unique. This is a stunning achievement, all things considered, with so much heart and imagination. I loved every single moment of this movie, from first frame to last.

Recommended Movies

Tuner

Tuner was one of the surprises of the Toronto International Film Festival last year. What begins on the lighter side and with a decently high concept gives way to something heavier, though still not without its pleasures. It’s the sort of flick that deserves not to be slept on. This is what I said back at TIFF (here) in my review:

Every festival season, there’s at least one title that I go into with zero expectations, only to wind up really enjoying. This year, at the Toronto International Film Festival, it’s Tuner. You may think this is just a movie about a piano tuner and his mentor. Perhaps there’s wisdom exchanged? Well, that’s more or less here, though the film also is about safe cracking. Yeah, bet you didn’t expect that. The ability to pivot effectively is a big part why this flick winds up being as enjoyable as it is.

Tuner manages to start out small and even amusingly light, before giving way to a surprisingly effective darkness. The unusual character study element is where it’s most successful, though even when it gets into genre territory, it’s still doing enough interesting things to always keep your attention. Cliches arrives, but they’re handled decently well.

Also Available This Week

Barbarian (4K SteelBook)

Battlestar Galactica: The Complete Series (TV)

Beverly Hills Cop (4K SteelBook)

Clear and Present Danger (4K SteelBook)

Epic: Elvis Presley in Concert

The Furious

Hokum

JFK ($K)

Ju-on: The Grudge (4K)

Mars Attacks! (4K SteelBook)

New York, New York (4K)

Sing Street (4K)

*No Criterion Collection releases this week. They’ll be back next week though, so sit tight!*

Stay tuned for more next week…